When asked that important question “what are you grateful for?” We all think of our families and our blessed lives. Which is good, we should be grateful for those things, but there is one thing we often take for granted. Our home. No I don’t mean our houses, I mean Earth. We never take the time to appreciate the place we have been given. The yummy foods it provides, the clean air, the rushing water, the beautiful sights, and other resources. It gives us a habitable home that is breathtakingly pretty. It gives us all these things with no charge. We never think to thank our home for everything it gives us. Instead we destroy it. We are killing the place that gives us life. We have taken its resources and used it against itself. We need to realize what we are doing to our home. We need to appreciate its amazing creatures and delicious foods. We need to stop harming the thing that is the source of our existence. I am grateful for our home, you should be too.

Something was shining in the tree,
Gleaming in the sun.
It wriggled with such might
that I stopped to look.
Though it was snared on the limbs, 
I could still make out its round body,
A balloon.
It was tucked back into the woods
And on my skis,
It seemed a long walk to the tree
But a small light flickered,
Not from the gleaming balloon,
but from inside of me.
It said,
Go after it,
Unclip your boots,
and set aside your poles.
That was what I found myself doing,
Trudging off of the trail,
Heal-toeing my way in my boots.
As I came closer
I could see writing on the balloon.
Reaching up,
I pulled it from its branch.
Like plucking a cereal box from the shelf,
It flapped in my hand.
The wind wanted it back,
But I flattened the plastic bird in my palm.
25th Anniversary!
The latex letters boasted in metallic silver.

I cried
shaking and spluttering
as tears streamed down my face
My breathing was heavy
and I couldn't stop the gasping sobs

You arrived
composed and unruffled
as I started to choke on my tears
You sat there quietly
and the tears began to subside

You soothed
carefully and diligently 
as I began to regain composure
You gently kissed my nose
and I stroked your golden fur

I smiled
comforted and calm
as you licked my salty tears away
I put my arms around your neck
and buried my face in your coat

Old dog
beautiful and serene
as you lay upon your bed
I remember that day
and I am grateful for your aid